1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the kinematic arrangement of an automatic transmission, more particularly to prevention of noise due to backlash of meshing gear teeth or spline teeth.
2. Description of the Prior
A one-way clutch or brake is often used in the kinematic arrangement of an automatic transmission to brake or hold a component of a gearset against rotation on a non-rotating component such as the transmission case. Conventionally a one-way brake includes a system of spline teeth engaged mutually with spline teeth formed on the case or housing. However, there is conventional gear tooth backlash resulting from this combination. For example, when the vehicle operator moves the shift lever to a forward drive position, torque is transmitted through the spline from the one-way brake to the transmission case. When this occurs, the spline teeth of the clutch move across a space between the teeth of the case and those of the clutch and strike the surfaces of the case spline teeth, resulting in noise that is sometimes heard by vehicle occupants.
Similarly, reverse engagement noise occurs in a final drive planetary gearset when spline teeth on the external surface of the ring gear strike spline teeth on the aluminum converter housing. The splines of the converter housing are cast in place and are in mutual engagement with steel splines formed on the final drive gear. The nature of this engagement can result in backlash between the two mating splines. When reverse engagement occurs as a result of the vehicle operator moving the shift selector to the reverse drive position, torque is transmitted through the final driving gear spline to the housing. When this occurs, noise may be heard in the passenger compartment of the vehicle due to the spline teeth striking one another.